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The head of the U.S. Army said Monday that the Biden administration’s decision to send the sophisticated THAAD antimissile system to a military base in Israel — along with a contingent of 100 American soldiers to operate it — was a clear signal of continuing U.S. support for Israel as violence around the region shows no signs of easing.
On Sunday, the Pentagon announced the deployment to Israel of an advanced U.S. Army air defense artillery battery, potentially putting about 100 U.S. soldiers and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense system much closer to the heart of a widening war in the Middle East. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth declined on Monday to say when the deployment would arrive in Israel, citing security concerns.
But she said the message behind the deployment was clear as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants in Gaza and the West Bank, Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, and potentially square off against arch-rival Iran after a recent missile salvo launched by Tehran.
“We should view this THAAD deployment for what it is: another visible statement of our commitment to the security of Israel as it deals with everything that’s coming at it from Hamas and Hezbollah,” Ms. Wormuth told reporters Monday.
The Pentagon had previously sent the THAAD system to Israel in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ October 2023 rampage into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. Units also deployed to Israel for training exercises about four years ago, Ms. Wormuth said.
Her remarks came on another day of bloodshed and conflict in the region. An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people, the Lebanese Red Cross told the Associated Press. The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito, which is part of the country’s Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east, the AP reported.
A day earlier, a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers — all of them 19 years old — and severely wounded seven others in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago. On Monday, the AP reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the army base and soldiers injured in the attack, vowing that “we will continue to strike Hezbollah without compassion in every part of Lebanon, including in Beirut.”
Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in the Gaza Strip killed at least four people and triggered a fire that swept through a tent camp for people displaced by the war, leaving more than two dozen with severe burns. The Israeli military said the strike in Gaza targeted militants hiding out among civilians.
Ms. Wormuth revealed fresh details of the THAAD deployment, including the fact that soldiers sent on an operational deployment for more than 60 days will now get a little something extra in their paycheck — an additional $240 per month over and above their usual salary. The bonus will be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, so soldiers already deployed won’t be missing out, Army officials said.
“This is both to recognize the hardship of being away from families but also the rigors of deployment,” the Army secretary told the Association of the U.S. Army annual conference in Washington.
“Operational deployment pay” is meant for special missions such as being sent to Europe to support the U.S. commitment to NATO allies and partners. The bonus pay won’t change because of rank. Army officials said a private and a general will get the same $240.
She acknowledged that soldiers assigned to air defense units such as THAAD are more frequently deployed than anyone else. Rotating back and forth from overseas deployments puts a strain on the individual soldier and the weapon systems as well, Ms. Wormuth said.
“When a combatant commander says ‘I need another Patriot [missile defense system],’ we try to lay out for [Secretary of Defense] Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks what exactly that means, both in terms of the strain it puts on soldiers and their families but also what it means in terms of readiness and the impacts on modernization,” she said.
— This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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